[EBB Sightings] Orange Bishop

	<000501c949b1$bcc7f5b0$c700a8c0 at owner>

Dear EBB Folks:

I recommend you purchase a copy of the Santa 
Clara County Breeding Bird Atlas, available at 
the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society, to know 
more about the status of birds in the South 
Bay.  But $40 is $40, so below is my contribution 
to you from an appendix in the atlas.  By the 
way, the citation to Smithson is for his Masters 
Thesis, this is our own Scott Smithson, now 
director of the San Francisco Bay Bird 
Observatory.  By the way, some recent South Bay 
photos show these birds feeding on tule seeds.

Bill Bousman
Menlo Park

Orange Bishop (Euplectes franciscanus)

             The Orange Bishop, sometimes 
referred to as the Northern Red Bishop, is found 
in tall grasses in moist areas in sub-Saharan 
Africa from Senegal to Kenya (Sibley and Monroe 
1990).  These brightly colored finches have been 
kept as cage birds and widely introduced in 
various tropical areas of the world (Long 1981, 
Sibley and Monroe 1990).  However, none of the 
earlier surveys of introduced birds recorded this 
bishop as established in the United States 
(Phillips 1928, Hardy 1973, Long 
1981).  Individuals or small groups of Orange 
Bishops were first observed in the Los Angeles 
Basin of California in the late 1970s (Garrett 
1998).  Documentation of breeding was obtained 
along the Los Angeles River in Los Angeles County 
in 1991 (Johnston and Garrett 1994).  Flocks of 
50 to 100 birds are now routinely observed in 
flood-control basins near Los Angeles (Garrett 
1998).  A small colony has also been established 
in Phoenix, Arizona (Gatz 2001).
             A male Orange Bishop in breeding 
plumage is difficult to overlook, but the 
females, young, and basic-plumaged males are 
nondescript and similar in plumage to a number of 
other weavers that are kept in the cage-bird 
trade.  Observations of this exotic finch in 
Santa Clara County are documented by the county 
notebooks.  The first was a female found along 
the Stevens Creek channel below La Avenida Avenue 
in Mountain View on 28 Sep?5 Oct 1993 (Michael M. 
Rogers, Stephen C. Rottenborn).  Nearby, two 
females or immatures were seen at the Emily 
Renzel Wetlands on 1 Nov 1993 (Stephen C. 
Rottenborn).  In 1994, a male was found with 
House Sparrows at the stables at Calero Reservoir 
County Park on 26 Feb (Michael M. Rogers), but no 
other bishops were observed until a pair started 
coming to a Palo Alto feeder on 14 Nov, remaining 
into Mar 1995 (Phyllis M. Browning).  Orange 
Bishops were found in a number of widely 
scattered locations in the county in 1995, but of 
most interest was the nesting of this species 
along Matadero Creek below Highway 101.  On 5 Sep 
1995, a male, female, and two recently fledged 
juveniles were found along the creek (Stephen C. 
Rottenborn).  The young birds were fed by the 
female, while the male remained nearby.  Birds 
continued to be seen in this area in September 
and October and two immatures were captured 
during a banding study nearby on 8 Nov (Rita 
Colwell, pers. comm.).  These were hatching year 
birds, based on incomplete skull ossification.
             Orange Bishops have been seen 
irregularly in the South Bay since they first 
nested in 1995.  They have been seen at a number 
of bayside locations from 1996 to 1999, in 2001, 
and in 2005.  Away from the Bay, single birds 
have been found in San Jose near Hillsdale and 
Kirk roads in 1998 (John Delevoryas), along the 
Guadalupe River near the Santa Clara Valley Water 
District offices in 1998 and 1999 (Ann Verdi), 
and at a San Jose feeder in 2001 (Karl 
Fowler).  None was seen nesting in the county 
again until 2005.  On 26 Jun, a pair was seen 
carrying nest material to a nest site along the 
Calera and Penitencia Creek channel in Milpitas 
and a nest with young was seen on 16 Jul (Michael 
M. Rogers).  Apparently this same pair move 600 m 
westward to the Waterbird Management Area on 
lower Coyote Creek and there they were seen 
carrying nest material on 31 Jul (Michael J. 
Mammoser, PADB) and carrying food on 17 Aug (Robert W. Reiling, PADB).
             In southern California, Orange 
Bishops feed on many of same seeds as used by 
Nutmeg Mannikins and particularly on those of 
barnyard grass (Smithson 2000).  The Orange 
Bishop nests in August and September to take 
advantage of the ripening of the barnyard grass 
seeds and in this regard is less flexible than 
the Nutmeg Mannikin, which is able to use other 
grass and weed seeds during a spring breeding 
peak (Smithson 2000).  Although Orange Bishops 
are able to nest in Santa Clara County, there is 
insufficient evidence that they are able to sustain their population.
William G. Bousman



Garrett, K. L.  1998.  Field separation of 
bishops (Euplectes) from North American emberizids.  West. Birds 29:231?232.

Gatz, T. A.  2001.  Orange Bishops breeding in 
Phoenix, Arizona.  West. Birds 32:81?82.

Hardy, J. W.  1973.  Feral exotic birds in 
southern California.  Wilson Bull. 85:506?512.

Johnston, R. F., and K. L. 
Garrett.  1994.  Population trends of introduced 
birds in western North America.  Pp. 221?231 in 
J. R. Jehl, Jr., and N. K. Johnson (eds.), A 
century of avifaunal change in western North 
America.  Studies in Avian Biology No. 15.

Long, J. L.  1981.  Introduced Birds of the World.  Universe Books, New York.

Phillips, J. C.  1928.  Wild birds introduced or 
transplanted in North America.  U.S. Dept. Agric. Tech. Bull. 61.

Sibley, C. G., and B. L. Monroe, 
Jr.  1990.  Distribution and Taxonomy of Birds of 
the World.  Yale Univ. Press., New Haven.

Smithson, W. S.  2000.  Breeding biology of the 
Orange Bishop (Euplectes franciscanus) and Nutmeg 
Mannikin (Lonchura punctulata) in southern 
California.  M.S. Thesis, Cal. State Univ. Long Beach.